Slick and Slack heteromers in neuronal excitability

This is an individual National Research Service Award for post-doctoral research training, which provides support for promising Fellowship Applicants with the potential to become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research fields. Deficits in auditory networks have been proposed to underlie hypersensitivity to auditory stimuli and stereotypic movements in autistic individuals. The purpose of this proposal is to identify the role of sodium-activated potassium (KNa) channels in auditory neurons. KNa channels are activated by intracellular sodium and show only weak voltage dependence. While the two genes which encode these channels have been identified (named Slack and Slick), researchers do not fully understand how these gene products work together to regulate properties of the KNa channels. Experiments in this project will use molecular biology, electrophysiology and sodium imaging techniques to determine some of the factors that mediate the activation and function of KNa channels in auditory neurons. Increased understanding of auditory network properties and KNa channels could lead to therapeutic targets for auditory hypersensitivity in autism.